No Need For Strife
by WightKnite
Summary: An Aeris x Cloud romance fic. Has it has action, humor, and drama elements too. Will be multichaptered. Now fixed minor mistaks.


Hello everyone! This is your author, introducing to you my newest fanfic! This is a Cloud x Aeris, which is strange since they're my least favorite KH couple. *shrugs* This first chapter centers around what happens after Showdown of Fate. It's very action packed, while the rest of the fic will be more romantic, comedic, and dramatic; albeit not in that order. To all Sephiroth fans, I'd like to say sorry in advance. NOTE: Showdown of Fate is a scene from Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix where Cloud and Sephiroth fight at the Coliseum. The end result isn't shown. This starts where it left off, more or less.  
  
Thanks to my first reviewer, (hope I'm spelling this right) Kaiiki Taiseiyou, for pointing out a mistake I made. It's Showdown of Fate, not Showdown of Faith. Thankyou!!! I also took the time to improve the first paragraph, and the chapter's now a couple hundred words longer.  
  
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;showdown;of;fate;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;  
  
Hollow Bastion is a strange place. Although being a simplistic area, it was the home for many of existence's greatest warriors. Many of SeeD's greatest members, alond with the most important members of SOLDIER, and the group that first defeated the scourge, Sin; most have come from here. Somehow, many of the several world's final fantastic journeys have members of which who started off here. Almost all of whom have left to another world, but, in the end, many's destiny led them back to their first home and birthplace.  
  
Cloud Strife is a rock who allows nothing to get by him. His greatest friend was transformed into his greatest enemy, both of whom are ex- SOLDIERs. Knowing what he must do, Cloud Strife has tracked down Sephiroth after many years of hunting him, like an animal. And they did battle. The two crossed their flight pathes along with their gargantuan blades in our own planet Earth's ancient Greece, or a world similar to it at least. Both men were destined to fight in this, their Showdown of Fate.  
  
Sephiroth's green eyes showed something they rarely ever did throughout his travels - fear. His swift Masamune had pierced Cloud's skin numerous times during their long fight, but Cloud's great endurance helped him keep his feet. The blonde's buster sword was much more deadly than the silver-haired man's thinner katana. If Sephiroth hadn't undergone a near deification thanks to his world's life stream he would have had no chance to survive the last slash, a horizontal cut along Sephiroth's belly, spilling much blood along the front of his coat.  
  
"You cannot win! I will never let you!" Sephiroth growled, swimming in the pain from the deep gash in his stomach.  
  
However, that particular sword slash Sephiroth barely lived through was a combination. Cloud Strife, high above the Coliseum, sliced his hot blade through the humid Mediterranean air in a crescent-shaped twisting arc. The skilled swordsmen thrusted his sword THROUGH his opponent's right shoulder, in a downward diagonal stab that brought his wide sword out of Sephiroth's body via his left thigh, bisecting the one winged angel into two uneven pieces. Green mako energy surged around the huge line on Sephiroth's body, then died off as the energy keeping Sephiroth alive faded away. Cloud Strife absorbed the energy in the air through an outstretched hand. The line between the two halves widened and widened until Sephiroth's shoulders were a half dozen feet away from each other. Then he fell. The higher section of Sephiroth's body - containing his head, part of the chest, and left arm - fell slower than the lower section - made up of most of his lower body, the wing, and right arm. The lower section hit the ground with a lifeless thud first, and was quickly followed by the other. Sephiroth eyes showed something they rarely did - absolutely nothing.  
  
The pupils of his normally blue eyes were gone, leaving his blank, pained stare cold and emotionless. The sun was just beginning to rise behind him. Cloud Strife, panting and heaving after a long fight that had lasted from dusk until dawn, looked down at the remains of Sephiroth with no pity.  
  
"You chose your path in life. It may had led you to the greatest power imaginable - a god's - but you killed to get to it, and then abused your power. You killed innocent people, including.. including my love!"  
  
He killed a young flower girl who happened to love a SOLDIER soldier - and for that reason she was killed. Cloud stared at his opponent with rage. Not unburning rage. Smoldering rage. Rage that had slowly depleted itself of any energy. Realizing what he had just done, he dropped his giant sonic blade to his side and smiled. Not a cocky smile, or a smile of contempt or a goofy, sheepish smile. A truthfully happy smile, sans any mask. He was truly and finally happy in his life, almost as if Zeus and Hera both smiled on him and gave him nothing but good fortune in his travels. His strife had peaked in life, and from here on he would nothing but bliss. Well, not now. But soon. He needed one thing that was taken from him. His flowergirl.  
  
Cloud let himself float to the hard ground of the Coliseum's arena. He looked at the remains of his former enemy for one last time before departing. Well, one last thing to do. Using the Black Materia he recently gained with the mako energy, Cloud summoned forth a great rock to destroy his body forever. Sephiroth had no chance of returning, either way, Meteor or no Meteor. Consider this Strife's last bit of spite. The Meteor throttled much of the Coliseum, removing much of its outer wall and vaporized the silverhaired monster in human form. With one last thing to do, Cloud lifted his arm to the sky. The green energy left him, returning to its home. Gaia would see it returns.  
  
He looked over his shoulder. Cloud opened his mouth and whispered hoarsely, "So tell me: Where's your Jenova now?"  
  
Turning away, Cloud staggered forward towards the Coliseum's exit.  
  
Cloud jumped in pure shock when he heard whistling, shouting, and cheers coming from a relatively undecimated part of the coliseum. A young boy with a key sword, a pacifistic shield bearer, and a satyr were all cheering for him.  
  
"Way to go there, kiddo!" Philoctetes shouted from his seat.  
  
"Well, gawrsh. Dat shure wus ah good fayght, ay-yuck."  
  
"Three words: Amazing. The best fight I ever seen ! Ya did great", Phil shouted, not seeing the decimation to his only place of income, apparently.  
  
"Couldn't have done it better myself, there, buddy." the keyblade-master Sora said, spewing words effortlessly out of his wide grin.  
  
Cloud did something very typical of him and put on a goofy smile that was goofy enough to rival even.. well.. Goofy's. A humming noise indicated the gummi ship was landing not too far from Cloud, piloted by King Mickey's royal court Magician. Sora and Goofy leaped from their seats and jumped down to the ship, approached Cloud to head to the gummi ship behind him.  
  
"Where are you going now?"  
  
"Traverse Town, where your friends are, I think."  
  
Cloud frowned and looked at where Sephiroth had been minutes before. He looked at the gummi ship, then returned his piercing blue gaze to Sora once again. Smiling sheepishly again, Cloud Strife stuck out his thumb and threw it over his shoulder like a hitchhiker.  
  
"Need a lift?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----  
  
Chi! Hope you liked the first chapter. *booing* Okay, I'm sorry! Jeez, y'know I love Sephiroth too! I hate to kill him off in the first chapter, but if ya respond maybe my next fic will have him with a big role. The second chapter is coming soon, but respond and I'll try to speed it up a little, okay, kupo? ^_^ Thanks again to Kaiiki. 


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